Umami city: Rieussec in London

Umami develops through fermentation, maturation or the slow concentration of food. Noble rot, which transforms the grapes of Sauternes berry by berry, follows a similar principle.

Exploring this parallel, The Journal team arranged three encounters in London, pairing Château Rieussec with artisans who work with umami every day: London Shell Co, a fishmonger and restaurant on Swains Lane; Gelupo, the gelateria on Archer Street; and Mellis, the cheesemonger near Crouch End.

London Shell Co, Swains Lane

At the end of Swains Lane, just before Hampstead Heath, a cluster of food shops has turned this corner of London into something of a hip spot. You can get an excellent flat white, pick up good sourdough and organic vegetables and, increasingly rare these days, find both a butcher and a fishmonger: London Shell Co.

Its unassuming shopfront opens onto a welcoming interior. To the left is the fish counter, displaying beautiful turbot, sea bream and prawns on the day we visit. To the right, around twenty places are set at bistro tables.

Chef Fede Pollame gives us a warm welcome. He has prepared a Chinese radish cake, made here with daikon in place of turnip, with a surprising cuttlefish sausage and the delicious flavour of scallops. A shiitake and cuttlefish-ink sauce brings everything together. An umami bomb that pairs beautifully with Château Rieussec. With exceptionally fresh tuna served as sashimi, the same wine takes on a different role, cleansing the palate between bites.

A happy coincidence: Fede and his business partner Harry source their fish from small inshore boats that return to Brixham harbour each day. We tell them we were there only the week before for a memorable day of scallop fishing. (Read our article, “The Don Quixotes of Brixham“.)

All the more reason to come back and try something that is always on the menu: choose a fish straight from the counter and have the kitchen cook it for you, for its price per kilo plus £15.

Gelupo, Archer Street

Founded in 2010 by chef Jacob Kennedy, opposite his restaurant Bocca di Lupo, Gelupo makes all its gelato from fresh ingredients in its own kitchen. It even makes its own cones.

The slices of lemon being patiently scorched with a blowtorch are enough to whet our appetites. So when they meet mascarpone gelato and we’re invited to have a taste, we’re very happy indeed. 

Jacob Kennedy approaches the challenge of pairing his gelato with Château Rieussec with equal parts appetite and adventure: sage, burnt lemon, mascarpone and hazelnut, four pairings that work beautifully.

The most daring, and the one we’d rather like to see make it onto the menu one day, is his Château Rieussec affogato. No coffee here. Instead, our Sauternes is poured into a well carved into the middle of a scoop of fior di latte gelato. The wine gains texture; the gelato gains depth.

Mellis Cheesemonger, Crouch End

Cameron is the youngest of the Mellis sons. His schoolmates used to call him Babybel.

After learning his trade in some excellent Parisian kitchens, he returned to the family business, opening the first London outpost of this Scottish cheesemonger, something of an Edinburgh institution.

He talks about the theatre inherent in selling food, and his shop rather proves the point: a generous counter, high ceilings, hams hanging overhead, all arranged to encourage you to linger and sample the pieces he hands out liberally.

Three cheeses are put to the Rieussec test: Sparkenhoe Shropshire Blue, Coolea and Wensleydale. Cameron prefers the blue, another product of noble mould. Its blue-veined, saffron-hued paste plays off Rieussec’s candied apricot and honey notes: the salt in the cheese lifts the sweetness of the wine, while the sweetness of the wine softens the salt of the cheese. A perfect balance.

From radish cake on Swains Lane to blue cheese in Crouch End, via an affogato on Archer Street, Château Rieussec never needs to force its way into the conversation. It slips into every pairing as though it had always belonged there.

For another epicurean wander through London, with a few more unexpected encounters with Château Rieussec along the way, take a look at our London Diary.